For companies that embraced the circular economy early, the payoff is clear. They’ve proven more resilient to supply chain disruptions, are inherently more sustainable, and are less reliant on raw materials. Now, businesses just beginning their circular journey can accelerate progress by tapping into the technologies and insights already pioneered by these early movers.
10 Mins
20th May 2025
Article
Sustainability, Manufacturing and logistics, Smart cities
Without changing our current behaviour, global waste will cost businesses and governments a whopping US$417 billion a year by 2050. But it doesn’t have to be that way. If a circular economy is fully deployed, that cost is reduced to less than US$255 billion a year.1
Embracing emerging technologies such as AI and quantum computing could bring that number down even further by analysing and acting on opportunities for waste reduction, product re-use and effective recycling.
For a company to achieve true circularity, its environmental impact would be zero. It would use only raw materials that can be replaced and would reuse or recycle at the end of each product’s lifecycle. The steps to circularity look different for everyone, but technology offers an opportunity to achieve some universal gains:
Much like the task of tackling Scope 1 emissions, companies should begin their circularity journey by addressing waste production under their direct control.
The healthcare sector, for example, creates a high volume of waste, with as much as 90% from single-use devices.2 Sustainable approaches to MedTech offer an alternative to these traditional, high-waste operating models. High-value and high-energy use machines such as MRIs and ultrasound imaging are being built with the ability to refurbish baked in. That means that when new, more efficient systems emerge, the technology can be updated rather than retired.
Technologies such as 5G and multi-access edge computing are delivering ultra-fast data speeds and low latency, in turn opening more opportunities for MedTech to achieve efficiencies in the sector. For example, immersive holomedicine allows for pre-surgery planning in a virtual environment. Virtualising not only removes the waste associated with the planning session but also reduces potential waste during surgery by providing a more thorough view of the patient's CT Scans, MRI images, or ultrasounds.
While the healthcare sector focuses on reducing waste through MedTech, other sectors can seek suppliers that help enable their sustainability goals, such as food manufacturers seeking innovation in bioplastics or edible food packaging to reduce reliance on single-use plastics. The Singapore-focused ‘sustainable procurement guide’ supports a fully green economy and particularly encourages investment in tech that can positively impact the environment.3
The best waste reduction strategy is to eliminate the need for the item altogether, and technology virtualisation is the next step for companies on the pathway to true circularity.
Cloud-centric solution NaaS removes the need for physical network infrastructure required for setup by outsourcing to an off-site network provider. This switch to a virtual service delivery model reduces the raw materials needed to set up network infrastructure at multiple locations.4 When the provider's services are hosted in an energy-efficient data centre, the use of NaaS can also impact the Scope 3 emissions records of the subscribing company.
Virtualisation from NaaS helps build greater sustainability by making network usage knowable, adaptable and efficient.
Dematerialisation in the circular economy means the removal of material and energy associated with running a business, including those incurred in the supply chain. It asks companies to fundamentally shift their business model and pursue a way of working that does not rely on irreplaceable raw materials.
For Singtel’s clients, that means seeking greater opportunities to remove physical items from business operations such as our takeback scheme to return discontinued physical products to the supplier. This reverse logistics model takes the onus off the customer to manage the reuse or recycling of the item.5
Singtel also uses internal carbon pricing to incentivise employees to seek sustainable opportunities in their work6, including dematerialising the supply chain. It is these decarbonisation efforts that are then passed on to clients through Scope 3 emissions reporting.
For companies advancing their circularity efforts, all eyes are on the capabilities of AI.
Since 80% of a product’s environmental impact is defined at the design stage, product designers can utilise AI at the initial stage to address the majority of circularity challenges.7
From there, AI has the power to recognise patterns in production, waste management, and distribution that could fundamentally change the way products are made and the materials used.8 When companies use AI for sustainable practices, the world will open up to a new model of true circularity.
Ready for tech-driven sustainability?
References:
Sustainability
Sustainability, Transportation, Smart cities
Sustainability, 5G, Manufacturing and logistics
Sustainability
Sustainability, Artificial intelligence and machine learning, Quantum computing
Get the latest digest on business and technology trends straight to your inbox.